HUA HIN: 11th March 2005 --  In a free-ranging exchange of views, participants of the EAO Team Visit and the Rector Major explored some of the difficult issues of living the Salesian charism within a broad spectrum of situations in Asia-Oceania.  Amongst these: (1) reconciling evangelical poverty with...hospitality, amongst other things; (2) how does evangelisation co-exist with a climate marked by terrorism, reactions to American and western imperialism; (3) postmodern Europe and youth - a life without Christ?

    Tackling the vexed issue of evangelical poverty, the Rector Major worked from a Gospel perspective which looked more at Christ's deeds than his words.  In the end we are about having the same feeling and heart as Jesus demonstrated - where people matter more than things.  He then drew on Don Bosco's Dream of the Ten Diamonds where we find a complete picture of Salesian spirituality.  He saw the face of the Salesian as the face of common man, able to appeal in any context but marked clearly by work and temperance.  We work hard and we are available to others.  But the backbone of the Salesian figure is profoundly religious - poverty, chastity and obedience, with diamonds of fast and reward.

    A multi-faceted response to a profound question and not so easy to present in a brief news item - but you can see that the response puts poverty in a much wider context, a context of 10 elements working together, in fact, but lived in a simple, detached lifestyle and held together by personal discipline.  And there lies the answer to reconciling hospitality with poverty - we offer the best, but always in balance and always with that sense of personal discipline behind it.

    As one part of his response to the question of today's post 9/11 context, and value systems in conflict (East, West, Muslim, Christian...) the Rector Major reminded participants in Fr Vigano's words that our world is the world of the young.  In the midst of this and other contexts we believe in youth.  We don't complain (perhaps we complain too much - Don Bosco would not have done so).  We respond with the Oratory - not a structure but where we put youth in first place wherever we find them; where we show we believe in the value of education.  Cardinal Ratzinger, recently speaking to Salesian Provincials of Europe, praised our 'prophecy of educational presence', a way of giving Europe back its soul.  As for Europe, so for Asia.....

    And finally, drawing some ideas from a question that asked about post-modern, post-Christian(?) Europe, Fr Chávez, again returning to the heart of Salesian endeavour in this context - young people - reflected on the importance of working with youth who tend not to believe in absolute values any more by getting them to experience things: experience values, experience that service is beautiful, that consecration to God is worthwhile.  As Don Bosco presented it in his own way, through The Companion to Youth: meet two temptations - that Religion is boring and that I can delay my efforts at eternal salvation.  Today, in Europe, in Asia, we still have to help youth confront these two.

    There were more questions and more responses - too many to report here.  A potted version appears in the EAO page on www.bosconet.aust.com

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